Income totalling device

ABSTRACT

An improved apparatus for totalizing the value of coins deposited in a coin receiving mechanism. Each deposited coin actuates an associated solenoid to produce a longitudinal displacement of the housing of the apparatus and moves a pawl actuator into engagement with a ratchet wheel. The ratchet wheel is spring biased for rotational movement, and as the pawl actuator engages the ratchet wheel the ratchet wheel is disengaged from the housing to rotate in conjunction with the pawl actuator. A pin member controlled by the energized associated solenoid engages the pawl actuator and limits the conjoint rotation of the pawl actuator and the ratchet wheel. The ratchet wheel is then locked in its new position and a motor driven gear member, which is activated by a lever operated switch upon displacement of the ratchet wheel, follows or &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;tracks&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; the ratchet wheel until the original relative orientation of the ratchet wheel and gear member is reattained. Simultaneously, a gear arrangement drives a counter to register the new cumulative total. A contact member is mounted on the housing and is positioned so that it engages and delays actuation of the lever operated switch until the associated solenoid is released and the longitudinally displaced housing returns to its original position thereby preventing premature operation of the motor.

United States Patent 1 Jensen et al.

1 3,732,875 May 15, 1973 [541 INCOME TOTALLING DEVICE [75] Inventors: Herman G. Jensen, Chicago, Bernhard 0. Williams, Elmhurst, both of Ill.

Primary ExaminerStanley H. Tollberg A ttorney- Ronald L. Engel et al.

[ ABSTRACT An improved apparatus 'for totalizing the value of coins deposited in a coin receiving mechanism. Each deposited coin actuates an associated solenoid to produce a longitudinal displacement of the housing of the apparatus and moves a pawl actuator into engagement with a ratchet wheel. The ratchet wheel is spring biased for rotational movement, and as the pawl actuator engages the ratchet wheel the ratchet wheel is disengaged from the housing to rotate in conjunction with the pawl actuator. A pin member controlled by the energized associated solenoid engages the pawl actuator and limits the conjoint rotation of the pawl actuator and the ratchet wheel. The ratchet wheel is then locked in its new position and a motor driven gear member, which is activated by a lever operated switch upon displacement of the ratchet wheel, follows or tracks the ratchet wheel until the original relative orientation of the ratchet wheel and gear member is reattained. Simultaneously, a gear arrangement drives a counter to register the new cumulative total. A contact member is mounted on the housing and is positioned so that it engages and delays actuation of the lever operated switch until the associated solenoid is released and the longitudinally displaced housing returns to its original position thereby preventing premature operation of the motor.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally the art of income totalizing and more particularly to an improved means for cumulatively totalling the value of credits established in a credit response mechanism, and for recording the totalized value (as on a counter, meter or a permanent recording form).

2. Description of the Prior Art The present invention relates to an improvement for an income totalling device substantially as disclosed and claimed in US. Pat. No. 3,339,839 Jensen et al. The prior art income totalizing device as illustrated in the Jensen et al. patent provides an electro-mechanical device for indicating thecumulative total (and thereby the incremental) value of credits established in a credit responsive mechanism, such as a typical coin operated vending machine. Recordation is affected for cumulative total values of coins of varying denominations that are deposited in a coin sensitive mechanism.

The prior art Jensen et a1. income totalizing device generally comprises a first movable member taking the form of a credit (i.e., coin) determinative pawl actuator comprising a cylindrical disk mounted in a frame housing for rotation with respect to a shaft and having peripherally extending abutment stops which are positioned so as to coact with reciprocal stop pins which extend into the frame housing upon receipt of a coin signal, and thus serve to impede the rotation of the coin determinative pawl actuator after a predetermined angular displacement of the pawl actuator determined by the coin value signal. A second movable member takes the form of a ratchet wheel that is also mounted in the frame housing for rotation with respect to the shaft, and the extent of angular displacement of the ratchet wheel being determined by the corresponding extent of angular displacement of the coin determinative pawl actuator due to an interengaging pawl relationship between the actuator and the ratchet wheel. Ultimately, the ratchet wheel rotation is transformed into a gear movement by means of a rotatable gear member which is coaxially mounted with the ratchet wheel and which is motor driven in response to a change in the relative angular orientation of the gear member and the ratchet wheel. The gear member tracks and follows the rotated ratchet wheel until the initial angular orientation is achieved. The gear member is rotated by the electrical motor which operates in response to actuation of a lever operated switch. The motor also operates a recording device which visually indicates and records the denomination of credits corresponding to the angular displacement of the credit determinative pawl actuator. A cam operated switch actuator is provided to permit the lever switch to actuate in response to rotation of the credit determinative pawl actuator. The action of the switch actuator permits the motor to rotate by an amount necessary to return the ratchet to its initial angular orientation with respect to the coin determinative pawl actuator and also cause the recorder to indicate a credit amount equal to the angular displacement of the credit determinative pawl actuator.

However, the Jensen et a]. prior art income totalizing device has not been totally satisfactory. In particular, there has been some experience due to variations in adjustments and parts that the introduction of coin signals corresponding to small denominations of coins (e.g., nickel) permit the motor to begin operation before the credit determinative pawl actuator has come to a rest condition after rotation. If the credit determinative pawl actuator is biased against the reciprocal stop pins at the time when the motor operates, the recorder will not show the correct total amount (usually less than the actual credit), and thus the total credit amount recorded may be in error.

Accordingly, to correct the deficiencies in the prior art income totalizing device, the following improvement was invented.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An improvement for a device for totalizing the cumulative value of coins inserted into a coin receiving mechanism is utilized in conjunction with prior art income totalizing devices. The prior art device comprises a shaft, and a coin determinative pawl actuator mounted in a housing for rotation about the shaft. A ratchet wheel is also mounted in the housing for rotation about the shaft and interengaging means are provided on the ratchet wheel for interengaging the ratchet wheel and coin determinative pawl actuator for rotation. Spring means are provided for rotating the ratchet wheel. Coin signal means are mounted to the shaft for axially displacing the housing in response to the insertion of coins into the coin receiving mechanism thereby freeing the ratchet wheel for rotation. Limiting means for limiting the rotation of the coin determinative pawl actuator are provided so that when the limiting means is engaged by the coin determinative pawl actuator, the ratchet wheel and the coin determinative pawl actuator rotate by an amount proportionate to the signalled coin value. A gear member is mounted in the housing for rotation about the shaft from a position of predetermined relative angular orientation with respect to the ratchet wheel. A motor drive means for gear driving the gear member is provided. Also provided is a gear driven counter means responsive to the rotation of the gear member for recording the signalled coin value. A lever actuated switch energizes the motor drive means when the switch is actuated. Switch actuating means is provided for actuating the lever actuated switch in response to rotation of the coin determinative pawl actuator.

The present improvement comprises a contact means to delay actuation of the lever operated switch and thereby delay energizing the motor drive means until the axially displaced housing is returned to an undisplaced position.

The foregoing invention, avoids the problems previously described with respect to the operation of the prior art income totalizing device. The contact means delays actuation of the lever operated switch for a sufficient period of time to permit the coin determinative pawl actuator to return to its normal position, and thus eliminate interference with the recording of the signalled coin value by the gear driven counter means. Thus, the present invention eliminates the problem of inaccurate recording of the cumulative value of coins inserted into the coin receiving mechanism which exists with the prior an income totalizing devices.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide improvements for a device for totalizing the cumulative value of coins inserted into a coin receiving mechanism which delays operation of the motor drive means for a sufficient period of time to eliminate inaccurate recording of signalled coin values by the gear driven counter means.

These and other objects, advantages and features of the subject invention will hereinafter appear, and for the purposes of illustration, but not of limitation, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the totalizing mechanism illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-section partially fragmentary view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational partially fragmentary view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an end elevational partially fragmentary view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, the improved income totalizing device in accordance with the present invention comprises totalizing mechanism which comprises shaft 12, lower housing assembly 14 having stop flange 15 on the interior surface thereof, and upper housing assembly 16 having ratchet tooth pawl 19 on the interior surface thereof which are joined together by nut and bolt assemblies 18 to form housing assembly 17. Also mounted for rotation about shaft 12 within housing assembly 17 is coin determinative pawl actuator 20 having tabs 21 on the upper surface thereof and abutment stops around the periphery thereof. Mounted immediately above coin determinative pawl actuator 20 within housing assembly 17 for rotation about shaft 12 is ratchet wheel 22 which has teeth 23 on its upper and lower surfaces. Mounted immediately above ratchet wheel 20 for rotation about shaft 12 is counter drive gear 24. Counter drive gear 24 has cam return flanges 27 formed in the interior portion thereof. Interconnecting counter drive gear 24 and ratchet wheel 22 is main spring 26. Main spring 26 is wound to cause a spring bias between counter drive gear 24 and ratchet wheel 22. Mounted immediately above counter drive gear 24 for rotation about shaft 12 is cam member 28. Cam member 28 has abutment flanges 30 on the lower portion thereof which engage with comating abutment flanges 32 on ratchet wheel 22 so that angular rotation of ratchet wheel 22 causes an equal angular rotation of cam member 28. Mounted immediately above cam member 28 for linear movement along shaft 12 is switch actuator member 34. Cam follower flanges 36 are integrally formed to the bottom surface of switch actuator member 34, and cam follower flanges 36 engage with sloping cam surfaces 28 on cam member 28 so that rotation of cam member 28 causes a vertical displacement of switch actuator member 34. Compression spring 40 is positioned about shaft 12 and retained by retaining ring 42 and cup washer 44 so that switch actuator member 34 is always spring biased in a downward direction.

Housing compression spring 46 is positioned about shaft 12 so that the lower portion of housing compression spring 46 rests against the lower surface within neck 48 of lower housing assembly 14 and spring 46 has its upward expansion retained by cup washer 50 and retaining ring 52 mounted on shaft 12. The lower exterior surface of neck 48 is held in position on shaft 12 by retaining ring 49. Thus, housing assembly 17 is urged downwardly by the spring bias of housing compressor spring 46. Mounted immediately above retaining ring 52 is ratchet housing bearing 56. Torsion spring 56 is engages at one end to ratchet housing bearing 54 and at its opposite end to coin determinative pawl actuator 20. Torsion spring 56 tends to hold abutment stop 25 of coin determinative pawl actuator against stop flange 15 when housing assembly 17 is in its undisplaced position.

Connected to upper housing assembly 16 by nut and bolt assemblies 18 is contact member 60. Contact member 60 is essentially a U-shaped wire member having legs 61 and 62 and connecting member 64.

With reference to FIGS. 1, 3, 4, and 5 totalizing mechanism 10 is mounted within a frame assembly comprising bottom wall 70, side walls 72 and 74 and upper connecting member 76 which are joined together by screws 78 to form an essentially rigid structure. Tabs 80 of solenoid bracket 82 engage slots 84 in side walls 72 and 74 and are held in position by screws 78. Solenoid coils 86, 88, and 92 are mounted to solenoid bracket 82 and held in position by coil retaining bracket 94. Solenoid lever assembly 96 is mounted beneath solenoid bracket 82 to the lower portion of neck 48 of lower housing assembly 14. Solenoid lever assembly comprises solenoid plungers 98 (which move vertically within solenoid coils 86, 88, 90 and 92 when electrically excited), lever members 100 pivotably attached at one end to neck 48 of housing assembly 17, and pivotably connected to solenoid plungers 98 and stop pin assemblies 102. Stop pin assembly 102 have formed at the upper portion thereof stop pins 104.

Motor switch is mounted to switch bracket 112 which is mounted at each end to side walls 72 and 74 immediately adjacent upper connecting members 76. Lever 114 is pivotably mounted to switch bracket 112 by pin 113 so that when lever 114 pivots downwardly it disengages switch actuator 1 16 of motor switch 110. Motor is mounted to motor bracket 122 and motor shaft 124 is connected to motor drive gear 126. Motor drive gear 126 interengages counter drive 24 so that rotation of motor shaft 124 causes rotation of counter drive gear 24 (see FIG. 4). Credit counter assembly 130 is also driven by counter drive gear 24 by en-gaging counter gear l32. Counter assembly 130 is calibrated to record the denomination of coins represented by the angular rotation of counter drive gear 24 as will hereinafter be described.

For a detailed description of the operation of totalizer mechanism 10, reference is made to US. Pat. No. 3,339,839 Jensen et al. which provides a thorough and detailed description of the operation of totalizer mechanism 10. However, so that the present invention may be thoroughly understood, a brief explanation of the operation of totalizer mechanism 10 will be given. Solenoid coils 86, 88, 90 and 92 are electrically connected to a sensing means in the coin receiving mechanism which sense the denomination of coins inserted and accordingly activates one of the solenoid coils 86, 88, 90 and 92 depending on the denomination of the coin. For example, solenoid coils 86, 88, 90 and 92 respectively could be electrically excited depending upon whether a nickel, dime, quarter, or fifty-cent piece was inserted. Electrical excitation of one of the solenoid coils 86-92 causes the associated solenoid plunger 98 to be moved upwardly within the excited coil. This upward movement of solenoid plunger 98 causes lever member 100 to be pivoted upwardly causing stop pin assembly 102 to also move upwardly in a vertical direction. This upper movement of stop pin assembly 102 causes stop pin assembly 102 to engage housing assembly 17 to move housing assembly 17 upwardly with respect to shaft 12 thereby compressing housing compression spring 46. When housing assembly 17 is thus elevated, the teeth 23 of ratchet wheel 22 are disengaged from engagement with ratchet tooth pawl 19 formed on the interior surface of upper housing assembly 16. Simultaneously, coin determinative pawl actuator 20 is moved upwardly so that tabs 21 engage ratchet wheel teeth 23 so that ratchet wheel 22 and coin determinative pawl actuator 20 are engaged for simultaneous rotation. Main spring 26 causes rotation of ratchet wheel 22 and coin determinative pawl 20 when teeth 23 disengage ratchet tooth pawl 19. Coin determinative pawl actuator rotates until one of the peripherally extending abutment stops 25 on the periphery of coin determinative pawl actuator 20 strike the upwardly extended stop pin 104 at which time coin determinative pawl actuator 20 and ratchet wheel 22 stop rotation.

Abutment stops 25 are positioned around the periphery of coin determinative pawl actuator in such angular relationships so that coin determinative pawl actuator rotates by an angle directly proportional to the denomination of coins inserted into the coin receiving mechanism. For a detailed description of the exact angular relationship of rotation of coin determinative pawl actuator 20, reference is made to US. Pat. No. 3,339,839 Jensen et al. which provides an elaborate description of the relationship between the angular displacement and the denomination of coins inserted into the coin receiving mechanism.

As ratchet wheel 22 rotates, cam member 28 rotates by an equal rotational angle thus allowing switch actuator member 34 to move in a downward direction as cam follower flanges 36 ride on sloping cam surfaces 38 of cam member 28. The downward displacement of switch actuator 34 is directly proportional to the angular displacement of ratchet wheel 22 and cam member 28. As switch actuator member 34 moves downwardly, it disengages lever 114. However, as long as housing assembly 17 is in an elevated position, contact member 60 holds lever l 14 against switch actuator l 16 of motor switch 110 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). Motor switch 110 is electrically connected to motor 120 and provides operating power to motor 120 whenever lever 114 disengages switch actuator 116. Thus, as long as housing assembly 17 is in an elevated position, contact member 60 contacts lever 114 so that it is held against switch actuator 116 and motor 120 remains deactivated.

When solenoid coils 86-92 are deactivated, solenoid plungers 98 and stop pin assemblies 102 will drop thereby allowing housing assembly 17 to move downwardly back to its original position under the urging of housing compression spring 46. As housing assembly 17 moves back to its original position, ratchet tooth pawl 19 engages teeth 23 on ratchet wheel 22 thus holding ratchet wheel 22 in its rotated position. However, as housing assembly 17 moves downwardly, coin determinative pawl actuator 20 also moves downwardly until tabs 21 on coin determinative pawl actuator 20 disengage ratchet teeth 23 on ratchet wheel 22 thus permitting torsion spring 56 to rotate coin determinative pawl actuator 20 in the opposite direction back to its original position against stop flange 25.

As housing assembly 17 moves downwardly, contact member 60 disengages lever 114 thus permitting lever 1 14 to pivot downwardly and disengage switch actuator 116. When switch actuator 116 is disengaged, motor 120 is activated thereby causing motor drive gear 126 to rotate counter'drive gear 24 to rewind main spring 26. Cam return flanges 27 on the interior surface of counter drive gear 24 engage cam follower flanges 36 causing cam follower flanges 36 to engage cam surfaces 38 thus causing switch actuator member 34 to travel upwardly toward lever 114. When switch actuator member 34 engages and pivots lever 114 into contact with switch actuator 116, motor swtich is opened thus terminating the electrical power to motor and stopping the rotation of counter drive gear 24. In this manner, counter drive gear 24 tracks the rotation of ratchet wheel 22 and rewinds main spring 26 until counter drive gear 24 has travelled through an angular rotation equal to the angular rotation of ratchet wheel 22.

As counter drive gear 24 is rotated, counter gear 132 is also rotated causing counter assembly 130 to register the denomination of the coins represented by the amount of angular rotation of counter drive gear 24. Thus, the greater the rotation of coin determinative pawl actuator 20 and ratchet wheel 22, the greater the rotation of counter drive gear 24 and the greater the registration of denomination of coins on counter assembly 130.

It should be apparent that the present invention overcomes the problems of the prior art income totalizing devices. Without contact member 60, motor switch 110 would be actuated to provide power to motor 120 as soon as rotation of coin determinative pawl actuator 20 and ratchet wheel 22 caused switch actuator member to disengage lever 114. If coin determinative pawl actuator 20 is still biased against the stop pin 104 while motor 120 is rotating counter drive gear 24, upward displacement of switch actuator member 34 is thus affected, and switch actuator member 34 may prematurely engage lever 114 thus actuating motor switch 110 prematurely resulting in an inaccurate registration on counter assembly 130. By providing contact member 60 so that lever 114 is held against switch actuator 116 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) until solenoid coils 86-92 are deactivated and housing assembly 17 is returned to its original position, sufficient time is provided to allow coin determinative pawl actuator 20 to return to its normal position prior to the activation of motor 120. In this manner, the occasional error introduced by the prior art income totalizing devices is eliminated, and an accurate recording of the denomination of coins inserted into the vending machine is permitted.

It should also be understood that various changes, modifications, and variations in the structure and function of the present invention may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a device for totalizing the cumulative value of coins inserted into a coin receiving mechanism comprising a shaft, a housing mounted on the shaft for axial displacement relative thereto, a coin determinative pawl actuator mounted in the housing for rotation about the shaft; a ratchet wheel mounted in the housing for rotation about the shaft, interengaging means for interengaging the ratchet wheel and coin determinative pawl actuator for rotation, spring means for rotating the ratchet wheel; coin signal means for axially displacing the housing from an undisplaced position to a displaced position in response to insertion of coins to free the ratchet wheel for rotation, limiting means limiting the rotation of the coin determinative pawl actuator when it is interengaged by the ratchet wheel such that the ratchet wheel rotates by an amount proportionate to the signalled coin value, a gear member mounted in the housing for rotation about the shaft from a position of predetermined relative angular orientation with respect to the ratchet wheel, a motor drive means for gear driving the gear member, gear driven counter means response to rotation of the gear member for recording the signalled coin value, a lever actuated switch for energizing the motor drive means, and switch actuating means for actuating the lever actuated switch in response to rotation of the coin determinative pawl actuator, an improvement comprising:

contact means to delay actuation of the lever operated switch and thereby delay energizing the motor drive means until the axially displaced housing is returned to an undisplaced position.

2. The improvement as claimed in claim 1 wherein said contact means comprises a contact member mounted on the housing, said contact member positioned to engage the lever operated switch when the housing is in an axially displaced position so that actuation of the lever operated switch is delayed until the housing is returned to its undisplaced position.

3. The improvement as claimed in claim 2 wherein said contact member comprises a U-shaped wire member mounted at each end to the housing and position to engage the lever operated switch when the housing is in an axially displaced position so that actuation of the lever operated switch is delayed until the housing is re turned to its undisplaced position. 

1. In a device for totalizing the cumulative value of coins inserted into a coin receiving mechanism comprising a shaft, a housing mounted on the shaft for axial displacement relative thereto, a coin determinative pawl actuator mounted in the housing for rotation about the shaft; a ratchet wheel mounted in the housing for rotation about the shaft, interengaging means for interengaging the ratchet wheel and coin determinative pawl actuator for rotation, spring means for rotating the ratchet wheel; coin signal means for axially displacing the housing from an undisplaced position to a displaced position in response to insertion of coins to free the ratchet wheel for rotation, limiting means limiting the rotation of the coin determinative pawl actuator when it is interengaged by the ratchet wheel such that the ratchet wheel rotates by an amount proportionate to the signalled coin value, a gear member mounted in the housing for rotation about the shaft from a position of predetermined relative angular orientation with respect to the ratchet wheel, a motor drive means for gear driving the gear member, gear driven counter means response to rotation of the gear member for recording the signalled coin value, a lever actuated switch for energizing the motor drive means, and switch actuating means for actuating the lever actuated switch in response to rotation of the coin determinative pawl actuator, an improvement comprising: contact means to delay actuation of the lever operated switch and thereby delay energizing the motor drive means until the axially displaced housing is returned to an undisplaced position.
 2. The improvement as claimed in claim 1 wherein said contact means comprises a contact member mounted on the housing, said contact member positioned to engage the lever operated switch when the housiNg is in an axially displaced position so that actuation of the lever operated switch is delayed until the housing is returned to its undisplaced position.
 3. The improvement as claimed in claim 2 wherein said contact member comprises a U-shaped wire member mounted at each end to the housing and position to engage the lever operated switch when the housing is in an axially displaced position so that actuation of the lever operated switch is delayed until the housing is returned to its undisplaced position. 